PISCATAWAY — A football sails high in the air, floating unpredictably like a kite before darting back down to earth. All the while Mason Robinson positions himself under it, never taking his eyes off the ball even though he can feel the footsteps of two high-speed defenders bearing down on him.

Rutgers coach Greg Schiano calls the task of fielding a punt the hardest job in football, and Robinson has a pretty good idea why.

“”The difficult part of it is not knowing how the punter is going to kick it,” said Robinson, who is expected to field punts and kickoffs while also participating at wideout when Rutgers plays at Florida International on Saturday (8 p.m., SNY). “”Sometimes you get ones that come to you, sometimes you get ones that are harder to judge. At the end of the day you just have to be confident and just believe in yourself. Because you are out there one-on-one, it’s just you and the ball and you have a whole bunch of guys screaming out at you. The toughest part after seeing how the ball is swaying in the air and fielding the ball, so you just have to be confident.”

“”Kickoffs are easy but (on) punt returns there are guys screaming at you,” Schiano said. “”That thing is blowing around and it is not end-over-end. It is spiral and the wind is taking it. That’s why there are so few guys that are good at it.”

Considering Rutgers’ longest punt return was a 13-yard jaunt by Mohamed Sanu last year, Schiano is hoping Robinson’s 28-yard return against Norfolk State is a sign that his unit might be more productive this season.

While Schiano is quick to say Rutgers is a punt-block team — meaning their first line of defense is attacking the ball rather than blocking for the returner — the Scarlet Knights coach certainly wants to improve on last year’s last-place ranking among Big East teams.

Also not seen in the statistics Thursday night was the yardage lost when Robinson twice let punts go past him rather than attempting to fair-catch it.

“”We need to improve there a little bit,” Schiano said.

Robinson, who replaced Sanu as Rutgers’ primary punt returner this summer, might have the hardest job on the field but he’s embracing every minute of it these days. After tearing a knee ligament in last year’s opener, Robinson experienced a year’s worth of grueling rehabilitation just to make it back for the start of the season.

Who could blame him for soaking up the atmosphere prior to the Norfolk State affair.

“”Just running out the tunnel and warming up, looking at the big board, looking at the fans and being able to look at (teammates) with a uniform on, it just felt good,” Robinson said. “”As far as getting out there in a game, I felt comfortable. It wasn’t like everything was moving too fast. It slowed back down for me, like back when I was playing before.”

Asked what he learned from his first game back, New Jersey’s 2007 high school sprint champion said, “”I learned I can do it. It’s fun being back there and getting the ball back in my hands. Not having the ball in my hands for a year is tough and you get a little down about it sometimes.

“”It’s just fun because I know it’s just one-on-one with me and the ball. To me, as soon as I catch the ball the fliers should be saying, ‘Uh oh, uh oh.’ I just try to have confidence back there. I’ve been doing this my whole life, since I’ve been playing, so just go out there and have fun.”